Worksheets and Files

Session 1

Discuss the term "symbol" with the students. Tell the students that a symbol is something that represents or stands for another thing. Write the definition at the top of a piece of chart paper.

Ask the students to give some examples of symbols and record their responses on the chart paper. Student responses may include a red octagon for a stop sign or a book for a library.

Introduce the students to the selected text on symbols. Preview the text and illustrations and allow the students to generate observations about symbols.

Read the text aloud. During the reading, attend to any unfamiliar vocabulary and discuss symbols again and what symbols they noticed in the text. List the responses on the chart paper.

After the reading, discuss symbols that represent the United States of America (forexample: bald eagle, American flag, Statue of Liberty). Record these on the chart paper and label them.

Distribute a piece of drawing paper to each student. Direct the students to draw some symbols that represent the United States of America.

Share the drawings with the class and display them in the classroom.

Session 2

Review the previous session and discussion on symbols.

Describe the 50 State Quarters® Program for background information, if necessary, using the example of your own state, if available. Then display the transparency or photocopy of the Oklahoma quarter reverse, mentioning that an image must be special to be on a quarter. Locate Oklahoma on a classroom map. Note its position in relation to your school’s location.

Tell the students that the back of a coin is also called the reverse, and "obverse" is another name for the front of a coin. With the students, examine the design on the Oklahoma quarter. Look at the images on the coin. Discuss that the bird is called the scissor-tailed flycatcher, the state bird of Oklahoma and the flowers are the Indian blanket, the state wildflower. Show them the date at the top of the coin and tell them that is the date Oklahoma became part of the United States.

Ask the students why these symbols may have been chosen to be used on the coin. Tell the students that the symbols represent Oklahoma because they are the state bird and wildflower. Introduce to the students (or remind them of) their own state bird and wildflower.

Review the symbols collected on the previous session’s chart paper.

Discuss some examples of symbols that could represent the class. List them on chart paper.

Distribute a "Class Coin" worksheet to each student. Explain to the students that they are to pick at least three symbols that represent the class and draw them on the coin. Model this activity using the list on the chart paper.

After allowing time for the students to finish the coin worksheet, share the coins with the class.

Review the various symbols and what they stand for.

Differentiated Learning Options

Allow students to work in pairs.

Have students use texts at various reading levels for their research materials.

Allow students to use clip art for the class coin.

Allow students to use a scribe rather than write the description.

Enrichments/Extensions

Have students create a coin to represent the United States of America using various symbols.

Have students research their home state. Have students create a new coin design for their state using state symbols.

Have students create a class book in which they create a symbol to represent themselves or their family. Have them use drawings and include a sentence or two about why the symbol was chosen.

Take anecdotal notes about the students’ participation in class discussions.

Evaluate the students’ worksheets for understanding of the lesson objectives.

W.1.1. Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or name the book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply a reason for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure.

W.1.2. Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.

W.1.3. Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.